Safe, Sustainable Drinking Water For You: Berkey Water Purification Systems

At Lady Farmer, we’re all about helping you cultivate your own sustainable lifestyle. This includes helping you find the best quality products for all of your basic needs–and other than oxygen, nothing is more basic than water for survival.

We have well water here on the farm, and though we had a UV filter already in place to reduce pathogens, we sometimes wondered if it was enough. Bacteria is only one concern, as groundwater can be affected by numerous factors. For instance, what about glyphosate (Round Up) runoff? Then we learned all about the Berkey Water Filter systems and decided to try it out. We’re so glad we did, and we’re now we’re offering it to you in our online store! Read on.

Is Your Water Clean and Safe?

Left to her own ways, our beautiful, bountiful planet is more than generous in providing what we need. Access to clean, sustainable water, however, is often made difficult, by our human systems and consumptive practices. Troubled Water, a project on drinking water contamination in the United States (produced by the Carnegie-Knight News21 program) reports that as many as 63 million Americans have been exposed to “potentially unsafe drinking water” since 2007.

According to the CDC, contamination of our water systems can come from numerous sources. Here is a list of the most common ones:

The Best Water Purifier

Okay, so maybe you’re already “in the know” about ensuring that you and your family have safe, sustainable drinking water, but there are so many methods and products to choose from.

Why did we choose the Berkey as the best water filter? So glad you asked!

First of all, it’s not just a filter, but an entire water purification system, which means it kills 99.9999% of pathogenic bacteria and reduces viruses by 99.99%.

Other key points that qualify Berkey as a top quality, Lady Farmer sustainable lifestyle product are:

It’s a gravity-fed water system, so no electricity needed. That’s sustainable!

It removes or dramatically reduces protozoa, trihalomethanes, inorganic minerals, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, VOCs, petroleum products, perfluorinated chemicals, rust, silt, sediment, radiologicals–and it removes glyphosate by greater than 75%! I’m good with having all of that taken out of my drinking water. Are you?

It’s low maintenance! I top off our “Big Berkey” every morning with a half gallon of water to keep it flowing (you don’t want water standing in it for more than 3 days) and drink from it all day. The only cleaning it needs is a quick, once-a-month warm, soapy wash of the lower container and you’re’ done. Easy!

The Cost of Clean Water

You might be thinking the Berkey is too expensive for you to consider, but here are a few things to think about concerning the “true cost” of the water you choose to drink.

Consider what you’ll spend over a year on $1.00-$5.00 bottles (depending on size and where you buy them) that are emptied in minutes and then left to linger for thousands of years in the landfill. According to The Story of Stuff researchers, bottled water costs about 2000 times more than tap water, even though many of those companies are merely bottling the tap water and selling it to you! Your investment in a Berkey can actually save you thousands of dollars over years of use, and will prevent thousands of single-use containers from joining that plastic island in the Pacific (or the beaches, the rivers, the highways and forests….)

Do you purchase water while traveling? The Travel Berkey alone (currently $249-$269) could pay for itself in no time by providing you with an endless supply of purified water (that you can trust!) while on the road.

Once you’ve invested in the Berkey of your choice, further expense is minimal. Two Black Berkey® Purification Elements in a Berkey® system will purify approximately 6,000 gallons of water before replacement is recommended.

Choosing a Berkey Water Filtration System

Here’s an abbreviated guide to the choices we offer, complete details can be accessed here.
There are five stainless steel models, plus the super portable Berkey Go Kit.

In order of size and capacity (from largest to smallest), the choices are:

Crown Berkey: 6 gallons, 30” tall, ideal for large groups such as schools, churches group gatherings and extended outages.

Imperial Berkey: 4.5 gallons, 26” tall, great for mid to large-size families and small group gatherings

Royal Berkey: 3.25 gallons, 23” tall, serves small to mid-size families and works for outside activities.

We are very happy with our choice of the Big Berkey. It’s just myself and Farmer Ted living in the house, but as you know, I make LOTS of tea! We tend to have lots of visitors as well, so we keep it flowing. I also like the height, it fits nicely in its corner spot by the window. Our next Berkey purchase will be the Berkey Travel. It’s so good to know we can have fresh, purified water anywhere we go! –Mary

It’s true we have many purchasing decisions to make in cultivating a more sustainable lifestyle, but when it comes down to our most fundamental needs, why not choose the very best?

Have questions about the Berkey? Let us know, we’re here to help (info@lady-farmer.com)! Ready to have the best water purifier out there in your home now? You can get it here and have your own clean water flowing in a few days!

Pure water is the world’s first and foremost medicine.
– Slovakian Proverb